Episode Guide, Year 2

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Production information and notes by Mark Phillips
Story synopses, Mike Bailey

And Five Of Us Are Left Airdate: October 3, 1965

Teru Shimada as the noble but misguided Nakamura.

Teru Shimada played the noble Lt. Nakamura in the subterranean episode "And Five of Us Are left."

A company of survivors of a American World War II submarine disaster have endured in a subterranean cave for 28 years. Nelson and company, tipped off to the group's plight by a message in a bottle found washed up on a beach, steam for the coordinates. Upon arriving, the Admiral and the operator of a newly installed sub-terrestrial scanner, Frank Weardon, set out in the Flying Sub to find the missing men. Bad timing: the volcano under which they're trapped is rumbling and fuming, about to explode. It's a race for survival when Nelson and Weardon are stranded along with the survivors; their brand new nifty Flying Sub sunk by Japanese prisoner of war, Lt. Nakamura, who is distraught at learning Japan lost the war. In addition, Weardon is mistakenly convinced that his father, Lt Ryan, was responsible for the submarine disaster. Tension runs high, but a persistent Crane is able to maneuver Seaview close enough to manage a rescue before the island blows its top.


Capt. Ryan & Nakamura		Ryan's son, Frank		Rescue amid destruction.

And Five Of Us Are Left
Written: Robert Vincent Wright
Directed: Harry Harris
Guest Cast
Capt. James Ryan........Philip Pine
Tony Wilson.......James Anderson
Esaka Nakamura....Teru Shimada
Frank Werden.........Robert Doyle
Burgar Johnson..........Kent Taylor
Brenda............Francoise Ruggieri
Hill...........................Ed McCready
Newscaster..................Fred Crane

Tossed in intimacy.
David Hedison and Francoise Ruggieri.

Phillip Pine Says: "It was an extremely good script and the character of Ryan appealed to me. I liked his determination to survive and his faith that his government would one day rescue them. The scenes where his son confronts him were also well written. I remember Teru Shimada was having difficulty pronouncing some words in the scenes where the depth charges are blasting us. Irwin Allen suddenly came down and he yelled at Teru and director Harry Harris, threatening to remove Teru from the scene. I finally had enough and told Mr. Allen off. I said that if he didn’t leave the set right now, I was leaving. He left and Teru and Harry thanked me."
Phillip Pine

Phillip Pine started in movies, but quickly moved into a long career guesting on a succession of television series.

Nelson consoles Esaka Nakamura.

Mark Says: Some TV books have mistakenly described the storyline of this exceptional episode as nothing more than Seaview’s crew battling mad Japanese soldiers still fighting World War II. That couldn’t be more wrong and that is a huge disservice to this segment. It’s typical of the kind of criticism Voyage has endured, even when it got things right. This is Voyage’s best year-two script, an intelligent, thoughtful character study of five survivors of WWII who have had to depend on each other for survival for 28 years. The only Japanese soldier, Esaka, is a gentle, kind-hearted man who has become friends with

the Americans who were once his captors. Phillip Pine is the moral Captain Ryan, James Anderson the cynical Tony Wilson and Teru Shimada is Esaka - excellent performances by all. This segment is almost an anthology, since the Seaview crew has little to do with the proceedings, other than to rescue the survivors. The last scene, of Nelson offering hope to Esaka about the future, is one of Voyage’s most satisfying - and human - moments.

Mike Says: I have a real (dare I go ahead and say it?) BITCH with the music that all but destroys the effectiveness of this episode. Heavy-handed whining violins tell you when to feel sad or upset for the characters. This episode is saddled with some of the worst of this sort of manipulative film music I've ever heard, and it really ticks me off because the rest of the production is quite good, including the script. And then, during the big climactic action scene . . . no music at all. Whoa is me! What could John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith have done with this episode? BOO on episode composer Lennie Hayton! .Also, I object to the silly beach scene with Crane at the beginning of this outing. It was obviously pasted in to add a sexy dimension to the show, as when Nelson apparently spends the night with his Russian spy friend in the previous episode. These sorts of excursions just feel "off" for this show. Usually snappy director Harry Harris was a bit flat with the direction of this episode.

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